Geoghegan

Geoghegan ( _ga. Mac Eochagáin) is a surname of Irish origin.

Usually spelt nowadays without the prefix Mac, the name has many variants, including Gehegan, Geohegan, and Gagan, which approximate the most common pronunciations of the name. It is usually pronounced gay-gan or ge-heg-an. In Irish it is Mac (or Mag) Eochagáin, from Eochaidh. The initial "G" of Geoghegan comes from the prefix Mag, a variant of Mac and the anglicised form Mageoghegan was formerly much used.

History

The sept of the MacGeoghegans is of the southern Uí Néill, and said to be descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages. Niall was High King of Ireland from the mid 4th century into the early 5th century. His father was Eochaidh Muigh-Medon, of the Celtic line of Erimhon, one of the sons of Esbain who it is said took Ireland from the Tuatha de Danann.

Niall's mother was Carthann Cas Dubh, daughter of the king of Britain. Niall's first wife was Inné, mother of his son Fiacha, from who the Geoghegans are said to be descended. He also had seven other sons with his second wife, Roighnech. Niall's ancestry is claimed by Irish legend to trace back to Miledh of Esbain, King of Spain, whose wife was the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh Nectonibus. From there the line is sometimes traced to Niul (from whom the river Nile got its name) who was married to the daughter of Pharaoh Cingris (all known only in Irish legend).

As High King of Ireland, Niall reigned from the ancient Irish royal seat at Tara, in modern County Meath. During his reign he conquered all of Ireland and Scotland and much of England and Wales. He took a royal hostage from each of the nine kingdoms he subjugated, hence his famous nickname. He gave each of his sons a territory to govern. Fiacha was given a large area in the midlands. His descendants were known as Cenel Fiachaigh, anglicised at Kenaleagh and their territory was known by that name until Elizabethan times when it became the "Barony of Moycashel", Co. Westmeath.

Niall is also famous for bringing St. Patrick to Ireland as a slave. It is said that Fiacha refused baptism from the saint himself at Carn, near Castletown-Geoghegan. The old name for this place was Carn Fhiachaigh, or Fiacha's burial mound.

On the other hand, it is claimed in the medieval book called An Leabhar Breac that the Geoghegans are descended, not from Fiacha, son of Niall, but from a plebeian, Fiacha son of Aedh. This claim so enraged the descendants of Fiacha, that they killed the author of the passage, even though he was under the protection of Suanach, the abbot of the monastery of Rahin. [http://www.geoghegan.org/clan/]

Time of Cromwell

The MacGeoghegan's were of considerable importance up to the time of Cromwell when they suffered severely through war and confiscation. Fifteen MacGeoghegans, chiefs of Cenel Fiachaigh or Kinaleagh, are mentioned in the "Annals of the Four Masters" between 1291 and 1450. The last of these was Richard MacGeoghegan, who, after fighting with great gallantry, was killed at the siege of Dunboy in 1602. Five of the sons of Charles MacGeoghegan of Sinan, Co. Westmeath, were killed during the Jacobite War in Ireland; and in the eighteenth century MacGeoghegans appear as soldiers on the continent, mostly in the service of France. The MacGeoghegan estates in Co. Westmeath were very extensive and were held by a number of different branches of the chiefly family. The most important of these properties was at Castletown, now called Castletown-Geoghegan. By the end of the seventeenth century the bulk of these vast estates had been confiscated or their owners, who ranked among the leading gentry of the county, outlawed.

Noted Geoghegans

There have been many other noted MacGeoghegans - notably:
*Roche MacGeoghegan (1580-1644), the Dominican, "saintly and enterprising" Bishop of Kildare;
* Conal MacGeoghegan, Chief of the Sept, translator of the "Annals of Clonmacnoise" into English in 1627;
* Priest and historian James MacGeoghegan (1702-1764);
* Anthony Geoghegan (1810-1889), poet;
* St. Hugh of Rahue between Tullamore and Tyrrell's Pass in Co. Westmeath) was of the family which became MacGeoghegan when surnames were adopted. The saint's crozier was in the possession of the MacGeoghegan family for many centuries - it passed from them to the Nagles of Jamestown House, Co, Westmeath, a family now extinct.
* A branch of the MacGeoghegan sept settled in Bunowen, Co. Galway, and the name is found in that county as well as in their original territory. In the West it has been often shortened to Geoghan and even Gegan. In 1807, John Geoghegan of Bunowen Castle, Co. Galway assumed by royal licence the surname of O'Neill in lieu of Geoghegan and so his descendants.
* The brothers Lawrence and Sebastian Gahagan, who were sculptors of note in London between 1760 and 1820 were Irishmen called Geoghegan at home.

See also

* Castletown-Geoghegan
* Annals of the Four Masters
* O'Neill

External links

* [http://www.geoghegan.org/clan/ Geoghegan web pages]
* [http://www.gavigan.org Gavigan web pages]